Control the information - don't let the information control you.
Information Fluency involves three skills: Information Literacy, Technology Literacy and Critical Thinking. The use of these skills gives students the "ability to perform effectively in an information-rich and technology-intensive environment." (U. of Central Florida
Google Custom Search
Use Google Custom Searches on your Pathfinders to help students search specific sites for specific units.
See this example for a Shakespeare assignment.
Embedded widgets on your library website help students and teachers easily get to the information they need. New Tools: Widgets
Book Widgets
Add virtual bookshelves to your website which announce "New Arrivals", "Summer Reading", or class book lists, or add searchable book widgets to search inside books.
Embed guides and presentations on your website to instruct your patrons how to navigate research tools, manage their library materials, or any other step-by-step guides. Google Presentations (such as the ones embedded above for Google Apps!) MyPlick Scribd SlideShare
Social bookmarking sites aren't just for keeping track of all your favorite websites - they also allow you to easily share "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" with colleagues and students. Some of the social bookmarking apps also have options for embedding "linkrolls" onto your website which work well with Pathfinders (see "Widgets" above). Groups can also be created allowing classes, teams or departments to collaborate and develop a list of tagged websites.
Special educator accounts are available so that teachers can set-up classes Click here for tutorials on how you can use Diigo for research, sharing and collaborating.
Delicious Edu Tagger - for K-12 Social Bookmarking Google Bookmarks - select sites as you surf Google; Google Lists are now available also! Fur.ly Fur.ly is a great way to compile multiple websites and present them as a single URL. Adding sites is as easy as copying and pasting URLs into a blank. Once all sites are added, then the Fur.ly address is created and the websites can be interacted with, individually and all sites can be scrolled through and interacted with. This is of great use when compiling electronic resources for teachers and projects once they have been looked at by resource gatherers. Jog the Web - take your students or staff on a tour of saved websites Reddit Simpy Stumble Upon
Evernote - for storing and organizing information; see this clever video on the benefits of Evernote ("Information doesn't control Jill, Jill controls information!"). Noodletools- a citation machine that has notecards that students can drop into their outline. Zotero- advanced students can use this Firefox add-on to collect citations, snapshots of webpages, and take notes. Ubernote- You can send twitter messages to your notes in Ubernote, use a firefox ad-on, and more!
Portals
Portals are starting points for students or staff to help them begin a search for information. It can consist of widgets, lists, links and more.
Noodletools- A free version offers MLA only citation help, but if you purchase the package for your school, students can choose a citation format, save their lists, take notes and make outlines. EasyBib- Search by ISBN or keyword on books, and all of your information is filled out automatically! Free MLA, costs $ for additional formats. KnightCite- Quick-and-dirty, cut-and-paste, with plenty of options Zotero- For more advanced users, this Firefox plug-in can integrate with MSWord. Has ISBN lookup so you can enter books automatically. Also takes snapshots of webpages. You can take notes, too!
Presentation Tools
MuseumBox is a great way for students to show off what they know, and comment on other student's work. Here's an example of a finished one.
Mary Schwander, New Hope-Solebury High SchoolToni Vahlsing, Abington Friends School
Table of Contents
Information Fluency involves three skills: Information Literacy, Technology Literacy and Critical Thinking. The use of these skills gives students the "ability to perform effectively in an information-rich and technology-intensive environment." (U. of Central FloridaSearch Tools
Beyond Google - 15 Tools and Strategies for Improving Your Web Search Results -
Kids' search posters revisited!
Reframing Google's search options
Google Apps
Google Custom Search
Use Google Custom Searches on your Pathfinders to help students search specific sites for specific units.
See this example for a Shakespeare assignment.
Google News - Google Timeline
WonderWheel
Google Scholar
Image Swirl
Google Squared
Categorized search results which can be customized.
Google Fast Flip
WallWisher for data collection, backchanneling and more
Other Search Engines
Clusty - clusters results in categories
Sweet Search - with a new directory for school libraries!
Wolfram Alpha
Mashpedia
Alerts and RSS Feeds
Google Alert
Twitter
Visit this guide for ideas on how students can use Twitter to gather information for research and collaborate for projects.Use Twitter hashtags to follow Tweets on a particular subject, such as the One Book One Twitter promotion.
Follow authors (or any other Twitter lists!) by using Twitter List Widget
TwtPoll - Students can use this polling tool to gather information for research or a project.
Information Management
Joyce's PathfindersPolling tools
Widgets
Embedded widgets on your library website help students and teachers easily get to the information they need.New Tools: Widgets
Book Widgets
Add virtual bookshelves to your website which announce "New Arrivals", "Summer Reading", or class book lists, or add searchable book widgets to search inside books.GoodReads
LibraryThing
Google Books - embed a searchable book on your site OR add a Google Books widget which allow users to search for books.
GuruLibrary
KidderLit - A Twitter widget which reports first lines of children's or young adult books
Scholastic Book Wizard Widget - allows you to search by title, author or keyword
Databases & Bookmark Widgets
Many databases offer widget options so that users can search from the library websiteAskHere PA
ProQuest Widgets
JStor
Diigo LinkRolls - share your bookmarks with a widget on your site
Diigo TagRolls - Display bookmarks with certain tags
Delicious LinkRolls
Delicious TagRolls
News & Information Widgets
Discovery News
New York Times Widgets
Reuters Widgets
Wall Street Journal Market Widgets
USA Today
Presentation Widgets
Embed guides and presentations on your website to instruct your patrons how to navigate research tools, manage their library materials, or any other step-by-step guides.Google Presentations (such as the ones embedded above for Google Apps!)
MyPlick
Scribd
SlideShare
Widget Tools & Builders
SproutBuilderWidget Box
Screencasts
Embed, link, or email screencasts of tutorials and guides to your students and teachers.Avi Screen
CAM Studio
Copernicous - for Macs
iShowU - for Macs
Jing
Screen Jelly
Screenr
Screen Toaster
Screencast-o-matic
TipCam
Social Bookmarking & Notetaking
Social bookmarking sites aren't just for keeping track of all your favorite websites - they also allow you to easily share "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" with colleagues and students. Some of the social bookmarking apps also have options for embedding "linkrolls" onto your website which work well with Pathfinders (see "Widgets" above). Groups can also be created allowing classes, teams or departments to collaborate and develop a list of tagged websites.Diigo
Click here for tutorials on how you can use Diigo for research, sharing and collaborating.
Delicious
Edu Tagger - for K-12 Social Bookmarking
Google Bookmarks - select sites as you surf Google; Google Lists are now available also!
Fur.ly Fur.ly is a great way to compile multiple websites and present them as a single URL. Adding sites is as easy as copying and pasting URLs into a blank. Once all sites are added, then the Fur.ly address is created and the websites can be interacted with, individually and all sites can be scrolled through and interacted with. This is of great use when compiling electronic resources for teachers and projects once they have been looked at by resource gatherers.
Jog the Web - take your students or staff on a tour of saved websites
Reddit
Simpy
Stumble Upon
Evernote - for storing and organizing information; see this clever video on the benefits of Evernote ("Information doesn't control Jill, Jill controls information!").
Noodletools- a citation machine that has notecards that students can drop into their outline.
Zotero- advanced students can use this Firefox add-on to collect citations, snapshots of webpages, and take notes.
Ubernote- You can send twitter messages to your notes in Ubernote, use a firefox ad-on, and more!
Portals
Portals are starting points for students or staff to help them begin a search for information. It can consist of widgets, lists, links and more.PageFlakes
LibGuides
iGoogle
Citation Tools
Noodletools- A free version offers MLA only citation help, but if you purchase the package for your school, students can choose a citation format, save their lists, take notes and make outlines.EasyBib- Search by ISBN or keyword on books, and all of your information is filled out automatically! Free MLA, costs $ for additional formats.
KnightCite- Quick-and-dirty, cut-and-paste, with plenty of options
Zotero- For more advanced users, this Firefox plug-in can integrate with MSWord. Has ISBN lookup so you can enter books automatically. Also takes snapshots of webpages. You can take notes, too!
Presentation Tools
MuseumBox is a great way for students to show off what they know, and comment on other student's work. Here's an example of a finished one.